RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / Upcoming / Shut Up & Sing
Shut Up & Sing

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Shut Up & Sing (2006)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
90 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:117

Fresh:105

Rotten:12

Average Rating:7.6/10

Consensus: Though ostensibly an intimate look at the Dixie Chicks after their 2003 anti-Bush remark, the film achieves broader relevance by exploring how media, politics, and celebrities intertwine.

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

US Box Office: $1,072,805

Synopsis: This documentary captures the female country-&-western group the Dixie Chicks in performance around the U.S. and London between the years 2003 and 2006. While performing in 2003, singer Natalie... This documentary captures the female country-&-western group the Dixie Chicks in performance around the U.S. and London between the years 2003 and 2006. While performing in 2003, singer Natalie Maines ignited a maelstrom of controversy and red-state outrage when she declared--from a London stage on the eve of the Iraqi conflict--that she was ashamed that President George W. Bush was from her home state of Texas. When a rabidly right-wing group picked up on it, the band found themselves in the center of controversy regarding the nature of patriotism, freedom of speech, feminism, and the split between pro- and anti-war Americans. Filmmaker Barbara Kopple brings us the fly-on-the-wall view of the next three years, capturing Haines and sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire in dressing rooms, on stage, and in recording studios, bonding with each other, their families, producer Rick Rubin, and their supportive manager, Simon Renshaw. Through the crises, they keep their sense of humor and sisterhood, not backing down from their liberal stance, and turning the backlash into a triumph. They also make some great music, and the film includes plenty of riveting, intense footage of the band in performance onstage and in the studio. Among the faces appearing in archival footage are President Bush, Bill Maher, and right-wing country star Toby Keith. [More]

Starring: Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, Martie Maguire, Rick Rubin

Starring: Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, Martie Maguire, Rick Rubin, George W. Bush, Adrian Pasdar

Director: Barbara Kopple, Cecilia Peck

Director: Barbara Kopple, Cecilia Peck
Producer: David Cassidy, Claude Davies, Barbara Kopple, Cecilia Peck
Studio: Weinstein Company

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
1 of 1

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for Shut Up & Sing

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

It isn't a disciplined doco, and the fragmentation of the throughline makes for occasional sags in the film, but the filmmakers mean well.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
07/20/07
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
07/20/07
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Shut Up & Sing isn't a particularly deep documentary, but it is a consistently engaging one.

Full Review Source: Show Business Weekly | comment Comment
11/21/06
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
Show Business Weekly

The film captures plenty of behind-the-scenes banter and plenty of music, but it doesn't really dig very deeply into the frightening mob mentality that followed the comment.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
12/30/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

... a portrait of the group that is angry, indignant, musical and inspiring.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
10/26/06
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday

The Dixie Chicks' struggle with the conflicting demands of art and commerce as portrayed in this documentary shows that they're still not ready to make nice.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
11/17/06
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

A testimonial to the viability and efficiency of the American marketplace of ideas, where Toby Keith, Natalie Maines, Bill O'Reilly and millions of other voices are free to annoy, heckle, praise, please and sing...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
12/01/06
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

The filmmakers give us a good taste of what took the Chicks to such great heights

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
11/17/06
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post

A gold statue of the Dixie Chicks should be erected in Maines' hometown of Lubbock, Texas.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment 1 Comment
06/29/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film as a whole is less a political document than it is a sensitively detailed backstage portrait of a unique musical phenomenon.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
11/16/06
Sara Brady
Sara Brady
Premiere Magazine

These are very hot ladies -- as much for their looks as for their smart minds, values and talent. If you didn't admire and respect them before you see this film, I think you will, after.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
11/30/06
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

We come to realize to what extent Natalie Maines ranks as an American heroine.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
12/06/06
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

A rousing documentary that salutes freedom of speech and the resiliency and creativity of the Dixie Chicks.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
10/26/06
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Shut Up & Sing is further proof that today’s best American films are documentaries.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
11/17/06
Robert W. Butler
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star

Going in with just a rudimentary knowledge of their music, by the time Natalie Maines utters one of the best closing lines of the year, I had never been so proud to be an American.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/04/06
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

...this documentary may be just the thing to find them a new audience. This non-Country fan was surprised by how much she enjoyed their music.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
11/04/06
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Academy Award-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple does an excellent job capturing the Chicks' thoughts, and uses judicious clips from political speeches to put Maines' off-the-cuff comment into context.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
10/27/06
Angel Cohn
Angel Cohn
TV Guide's Movie Guide

While watching the Chicks balance career and family life, Kopple and Peck paint an intimate portrait of a group breaking free of being a brand.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
10/30/06
Kevin Courrier
Kevin Courrier
Boxoffice Magazine

Whatever the ultimate effect on the group's career, their excursion into politics produced a wonderfully watchable movie.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
11/16/06
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

The thrust of the movie lies in the trenchant mix of image-rebuilding strategies and genuine politicization the Chicks undergo

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/28/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
all

Latest News for Shut Up & Sing

October 31, 2006: RTIndie: Can Indie Studios Survive Without Big Studio Backing?
With the sale of independent-minded ThinkFilm last week, can indie film distributors survive without big studio backing? More...

October 26, 2006: Box Office Guru Preview: Saw III Brings The Pain
Blood will flow and screams will be deafening at North American multiplexes this weekend when the horror sequel "Saw III" buzzes its way into theaters. While there... More...

October 26, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Fire" Blazes; "Scissors" Isn't Sharp Enough; "Saw III" Not Screened: Guess The Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got the return of Jigsaw ("Saw III," starring Tobin Bell), a tale of rebellion in apartheid-era South Africa ("Catch a Fire,"... More...

October 21, 2006: click for trailer and trailer review in Greek Opens in new window
More...

See All

More Movies

Coming Soon in Australia
Tomatometer Percentage Movie Date

70% 70% Where the Wild Things Are 03/12
83% 83% Paranormal Activity 03/12
89% 89% Zombieland 03/12
76% 76% The Informant! 03/12
— The Strength of Water 03/12

What’s Hot On RT

Shock! Horror?

Shock! Horror?

Lars von Trier talks Antichrist

Avatar

Avatar

Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes video

RT's Twilight corner

RT's Twilight corner

Everything you need on New Moon is here

Doomed Romance

Doomed Romance

Our top 10 star-crossed movie lovers

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Natalie Portman Says Kat Denning Is in Thor Source: MTV
10
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
10
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
106
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
  • 6 Reasons 'Twilight' Is Doomed Source: The Wrap
64
  • Forbes Names Hollywood's Most Overpaid Actors Source: Forbes
20
  • Chris Weitz Says He's (Almost) Done with Directing Source: Film School Rejects
26
  • Spider-Man 4 Casting Rumors Multiply Like Rabbits Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily
51
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
165
  • Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
129
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Twilight's New Moon Dazzle?
97
  • Total Recall: Star-Crossed Lovers
75
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
53
  • Five Favorite Films with Werner Herzog
50
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
47
  • Friday Harvest: New Moon, Avatar, and more!
32
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
6
  • RT on DVD: Harry Potter returns, Bella heads to Adventureland
4
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
6
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
8
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
19
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
6
  • RT on DVD: Wassup, Bruno
3
  • Scott Hicks Talks The Boys Are Back
0
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Richard Kelly chats about The Box
2
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
19
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Shut Up & Sing at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Shut Up & Sing at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
Win Glee DVDs
Win Glee DVDs External Link

We've got 20 copies of the hit TV series' Pilot Episode to giveaway.

New Moon Portraits
New Moon Portraits External Link

TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.

Why Don't Australians Make Sci-fi?
Why Don't Australians Make Sci-fi? External Link

The New Matilda's Lynden Barber looks at the recent success of low-budget sci-fi -- and asks the question.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter External Link

Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.

Competitions
Win Star Wars prizes
Win Star Wars prizes External Link

Enough Prequel, Original Trilogy and Family Guy DVDs to fill a space cruiser

Win the entire 007 collection
Win the entire 007 collection External Link

Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace could be yours.

Win Fight Club Special Editions and more
Win Fight Club Special Editions and more External Link

We're giving away the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray, plus Braveheart and the Rocky collection

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.